Page 8 of Dirty Empire

“She jumped on the yacht when I was trying to get the fuck out of there.”

“And you don't tell her to get off?” he asks.

I take another sip of my drink, letting the whiskey burn as it goes down. It’s the same question I’ve been asking myself. Why had I let her stay? It doesn't benefit me in any way. It puts me at risk. But something about Hazel makes me want to fight for her. It’s like she’s tired of fighting for herself. She looked exhausted.

“Let me know when you have a plan in place,” I say to Mike, ignoring his question.

He hears the dismissal in my voice and leaves the office.

I finish my drink and work on my laptop for the next few hours. By the time I look up, the room has grown dark. A soft knock sounds at the door.

“Come in,” I grunt before sitting up straight and turning my head to the side until it lets out a satisfying crack. The door slowly opens, and Hazel steps inside. Her black hair is wet as if she’s just gotten out of the shower. I nod at the chair across from my desk, and she takes a seat.

“You have a nice home, Maverick. Thank you for allowing me to come here.”

“No more ‘thank you’s’ needed,” I assure her.

She leans back in her chair. “Maverick, I have questions.” She chews her bottom lip. For some strange reason, the gesture makes my dick twitch. Wrong timing. Wrong feeling. Still, my loins were reacting. She wore a big t-shirt that covered up her perfect curves, and I wish she’d stayed in the tank top I’d seen her in this morning.

I clear my throat. “Okay, go ahead. I’m all ears.”

“So, you said earlier that you were selling guns to Miles. Why would he need guns? And please be completely honest with me. I need to know what I’m dealing with here.”

I let out a sigh before crossing the desk and sitting down in a chair beside hers. “You don’t know anything, do you?”

“Anything about what?” she replies innocently.

“About what Miles and I do.” A flicker of amusement crosses my face. She really is an innocent babe in the woods. I find her spirit endearing.

“No, I don’t. When I married Miles, he was a bank owner and businessman. That’s all I know.” Hazel’s ocean-blue eyes hold sadness in them.

I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should tell her everything. She has a right to know what she’s caught in the middle of.

I take a deep breath. “I met Miles through an associate. This associate told me about a prominent client who was seeking a big arms deal. Miles’s main business is the bank, but it’s a cover for his underground business: weapons and ammunition.” Astonishment fills Hazel’s face. My eyes met hers. I see the disappointment set in. She looks crushed. I want to reach out to her, but instead, I keep going.

“Miles buys weapons and ammunition, then sells them illegally to Turkish and Slovenian government officials. We aren’t really competitors. I choose not to get involved in government dealing because most of my business is underground.”

Hazel listens intently and in pure disbelief, before interjecting, “You don’t seem like that kind of man.”

I’m telling her about her husband’s criminal organization, and she’s focused on me?

“What kind of man are you referring to?” I cock my head to the side.

“The kind of man who deals in illegal arms trafficking.”

I drop my head. I still feel shame for things in my past, but I have learned to live with it.

“To be honest with you, the deal with Miles was going to be my last deal.”

I haven’t admitted that to anyone. If my competitors know I’m getting out of the business, they might see it as an opportunity to take my clients. But Hazel’s innocent. Knowing this information would do her any good.

“I was, and still am, planning on closing on some property here. I’m opening a clean energy company.”

Hazel sits there, staring at a painting on the wall. The silence in the room is heavy.

“I never intended to be a lifelong criminal.”

I don’t know why I feel the need to justify my business to her, but I do.

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